Back in 2002, when the BBC launched a reboot of its motoring show, Top Gear, producers had to scour the side alleys of TV to find its presenting trio. Jeremy Clarkson, who co-devised the format, was best known for presenting Robot Wars. Richard Hammond appeared on the dodgy-sounding satellite channel, Men & Motors.
And James May, who joined in the second series, had been languishing on Channel 4, co-hosting their rival show, Driven. The casting proved inspired, but times have changed. It’s perhaps no surprise then, that Amazon’s reboot of The Grand Tour – the last great vehicle for Clarkson, Hammond and May – has plucked its stars from that new gold mine: social media.
They are James Engelsman and Thomas Holland – really? Another famous Thomas Holland(er)? – the YouTubers behind Throttle House, a leading channel for petrolheads, and Francis Bourgeois, a trainspotting TikToker who exploded into prominence during the pandemic. Together, the trio will travel the world, embarking on car-fuelled adventures and hoping that some of that old chemistry rubs off.
There’s a Ford Mustang, an American classic with an eye-watering price tag; a sleek Corvette that can ease up to 150 mph; and, finally, the Hennessey Venom, a roadster with horsepower that could turn Shadowfax grey. When Amazon snaffled up the Top Gear presenters and launched The Grand Tour, they took a beloved part of the BBC show – the foreign specials – and made that the focus of the series. With carte blanche, the stunts could be bigger than ever.
But they were also glossier, less prone to the haphazard disasters of the original. And this new iteration of The Grand Tour feels even less chaotic. They cruise serenely through Bombay Beach, rope Jenson Button in for a performance test at the Thermal Country Club, and participate in a slickly choreographed relay race with a team of aerobatic jets.
Engelsman and Holland clearly know each other well (the latter, a Canadian, is the most polished on-screen performer), but most of the charisma is left to Bourgeois. He might be an acquired taste (his enthusiasm for trains is either charming or irritating, depending on your cynicism levels), yet he clearly offers something distinctive. He has the nerdy qualities of James May coupled with Richard Hammond’s most effusive moments of childlike wonder.
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